Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long will be unopposed for re-election

Sea Bright Democrats Expect A Primary Fight Over Council Nominations

Councilman Marc Leckstein: Gopal with overrule local chairman and award him the party line in the primary

Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long. photo credit:RedBankGreen.com

Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long is poised to lead the tiny coastal borough’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy for another four years.

Long, an Independent, will file her nominating petitions this week, over two months before they are due for Independent candidates.  Both the Democratic and Republican municipal chairs  have said that they won’t field candidates against Long.

“I am hopeful the voters of Sea Bright will give me the opportunity to see through our rebuilding from Sandy, the recovery of our municipal finances and the economic revitalization of our downtown,” Long said in a prepared statement, “I want to make sure we incorporate lessons learned from Sandy to improve our future resilience, and that we continue to engage and empower Sea Bright residents to be an active part that process.

“Over the last three and half years, we have seen that when we roll up our sleeves and work together, we succeed. If we keep bringing that spirit to the tasks at hand, I know Sea Bright’s potential can finally be realized. I am honored that the Democrat and Republican party organizations are not opposing my re-election bid, and am very very grateful. I look forward to working with them all to keep Sea Bright moving forward.”

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Insiders: Monmouth Dems will only compete in LD 11 this year

Vin Gopal

Monmouth County Democratic insiders tell MMM that all Monmouth County and Legislative Republicans except Assemblywomen Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini will essentially get a free pass to election this year as Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal has been unable to recruit candidates or raise money for the legislative races in legislative districts 12, 13 and 30, or the County Offices of Freeholder and Clerk.

Gopal is expected to leave the candidate recruitment in LDs 12 and 30 to the other counties included in those districts.  The 30th district, currently represented in the Assembly by Republicans Dave Rible and Sean Kean, has 12 towns in Monmouth County and two in Ocean County. Seven of the fourteen towns in the 12th district are on Monmouth County.  The other seven are split between Burlington, Ocean and Middlesex Counties.  The 12th district is represented by Republicans Ron Dancer and Rob Clifton.

Gopal’s trial balloon last December of making a second run for Assembly in the 11th himself( he ran in 2011) went over like the Hindenburg with State Democrats, other County Chairs and Special Interest donors who he had convinced that the money they invested in Monmouth County last year would lead to a pick up of Freeholder seats.

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Joe Grillo is for the birds

Giuseppe “Joe” Grillo, a Democratic candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder last year, has accepted a position as Director of Development at the New Jersey Audubon Society.

Working out of the non-profit’s Bernardsville headquarters, Grillo will be responsible for operations management, supervision of staff members overseeing membership, gift entry and prospect research.  He will collaborate with the VP of Development in designing and implementing a fundraising strategy.

Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal’s blog has not reported whether  Grillo will be commuting over an hour each way to Bernardsville from his current home in Asbury Park or if he will move to the Somerset County town where there are no parking meters. During his campaign for Freeholder last year, Grillo complained that it is impossible to live in downtown Asbury Park without getting parking tickets. Starbuck’s, where Grillo’s wife works as a manager, has a store in Bernardsville.  A shorter commute and free parking may prove compelling to the couple should the job work out for Joe.

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On Anonymity, Integrity & Personal Attacks

By Jim Granelli

To be honest, I’ve had a draft of an article like this on my desktop since before Christmas. But the recent article about John Heyer, AKA Vin Gopal, AKA Monmouth County Democrat Chair has created an opportunity to tie the current matter into the above issues.

Integrity as one dictionary describes it is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” That was the point of exposing Vin Gopal as a real person behind Jersey Shore Insider. It was a lie of omission, for if the real truth were known about the editorial bend of the Jersey Shore Insider blog, one would be able to put it all in context.

One of the tip off’s that something was fishy was finding out that John Heyer was a Democrat Freeholder who died in 1905. No one in Holmdel knew of John Heyer, nor was he found in any public records. That wasn’t too smart of a move Mr. Gopal. It raised a flag. Furthermore, that Gopal has not replied to MMM with a comment should raise a flag with you; telling you that  a) he got caught and b) he’s got something to hide.

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Report: Gopal Considering Another Run For Assembly

What will Dan Jacobson do?

Vin Gopal

Ever the optimist and desperate for relevancy, Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal is floating his name as a candidate for Assembly in 11th District.

The district’s Assembly seats are currently held by Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande.  Gopal and Red Bank Councilwoman Kathy Horgan lost to Angelini and Casagrande by over 3000 votes (out of 37,093 cast) in 2011.  Former Democratic Assemblyman Dan Jacobson, publisher of the triCityNews and AsburyParkSun earned 2358 votes as an Independent candidate that year.

MoreMonmouthMusings hereby endorses Gopal for one of the Democratic Assembly nominations in the 11th.

We were worried that 2015 would be a boring year politically in Monmouth County and that we’d have to start covering restaurant openings to keep our traffic up next year.  With Gopal on the ballot, MMM’s political focus would be assured for another year.

Another reason we like Gopal as a candidate for Assembly is that it takes an issue of the table for Sheriff Shaun Golden’s reelection in 2016.

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DiSomma: Squash Zipprich DUI Video

Sean DiSomma

Sean DiSomma, the Chairman of the Red Bank Republicans and a candidate for Council in the upcoming election has requested that MMM not to publish the video of Councilman Ed Zipprich’s arrest for Driving Under the Influence and not to release it to any other publications.  Zipprich is one of DiSomma’s opponents in the election.

“Linda (Schwabenbauer, DiSomma’s running mate) and I decided to run our campaign on the issues…making Red Bank’s government more affordable,” said DiSomma, “Zipprich’s allegation that we are responsible for the release of the video to the Asbury Park Press is baseless.  Mr. Zipprich says he’s working every day to be a better person.  I hope that is true and that he retracts the allegation.”

“Last year the Democrats went into the gutter with false allegations against me,” DiSomma continued, referring to Demcratic County Chairman Vin Gopal’s false allegation last October that there was a warrant out for his arrest in Texas for an unpaid speeding ticket, “two wrongs don’t make a right.  If this campaign is on the issues, we win.”

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Gopal: Essex County is the model he wants for Monmouth County

These men want to turn Monmouth County into South Essex County.
CD-4 Candidate Ruben Scolavino, Larry Luttrell, Senator Cory Booker, Joe Grillo, Congressman Frank Pallone, NJ Democratic Chairman John Currie and Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal.  photo via facebook

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal said that Essex County’s Government is the model he hopes to impose on Monmouth County should he ever win control of the Board of Freeholders.

Gopal and his freeholder candidates Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo ventured north to Essex this week, hat in hand for money to fund their quest to transform Monmouth into South Essex, according to a report on PolitickerNJ.

“They have done an extraordinary job in Essex County as far as managing a county government, and it’s all Democratic,” Gopal said. “It’s a model for Monmouth to hope to achieve one day.”

Let’s take a look at what that means.

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A Teachable Moment

Editor’s note:  Freeholder Director Lillian Burry submitted this column back in February. In light of the recent “push polling” negative campaign tactic on the part of the Monmouth County Democrats and what looks to be an ugly seven weeks coming before election day, we thought it might be a good idea to run her column again.

By Lillian G. Burry, Monmouth County Freeholder Director

Photo by Vinnie Amessé © www.amessephoto.com

When Vin Gopal launched his latest attack, I heard from friends with two different types of advice.  Some said I should fight back immediately because silence would suggest I had no defense.  Others said I should do nothing because to respond to bullying would make me just look defensive.  I thanked them all for their kind thoughts but told them all the same thing.  I see this as a teachable moment to be shared with everyone who may be thinking of someday entering public life.

You may see public office as I do – a way of giving back to society and being thankful for the success you’ve had in your professional life.  In an ideal democracy opponents would challenge you by putting forth a competing vision of the future they would work for and offer up their record of accomplishments so people could judge whether or not they had as good a record as yours when it comes to getting things done.  Unfortunately, that’s not how our democracy has evolved.

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Gopal named Deputy Vice Chairman of State Democratic Party

Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal has been named one of four deputy vice chairs of the State Party, by Chairman John Currie at the Party’s annual conference in Atlantic City last week.

In addition to Gopal, Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver, the former Speaker, Atlantic County Freeholder Colin Bell and Garden State Equality Founder and former Chair Steven Goldstein were named Deputy Vice Chair.

“I am thrilled to name these four outstanding New Jersey Democrats as Deputy Vice Chairs. I will look to them for guidance and support as the campaign season progresses. These individuals represent diverse interests and regions and they have all been leaders in their respective communities,” said Chairman Currie in a statement released by the Party. “They strengthen the NJDSC leadership team and increase our ability to conduct outreach and other party business across the state.”

Gopal told MMM that the position is advisory in nature and that he does not have a specific portfolio of responsibility with the NJDSC.

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Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long leaves the Democratic Party

Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long. photo credit:RedBankGreen.com

When Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal promised retribution and accused Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long of abandoning her principals by endorsing Governor Chris Christie for reelection, Long said, “Whether Vin likes it or not, I’m still a Democrat.”

Now she’s not a Democrat.  Long quietly changed her registration to Unaffiliated in February.  The Asbury Park Press was the first to report Long’s new status.

“I did this quietly and without fanfare,” Long told MMM, “to talk about why I did it would defeat the purpose.”  Prodded, Long said, “its a long story, no pun intended.”

Political insiders in Sea Bright have been aware of Long’s new status for a few weeks.  One insider said that something happened in the county Democratic Party that Long considered  personally hurtful.

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